Your grip is very western. If I was a coach I want to see you handle low, short balls with it. I'd also like to see how the timing holds up during a match, and if you can flatten it out and put balls away.

Also on your forehand I noticed that you're not looking at the ball right at impact. You stop following the ball for the last few feet. This works when you're getting fed really consistent balls, but will likely be a problem in a match with unfamiliar opponents whose balls will vary more.

You foot fault on just about every serve.

My only other criticism is common to most of the recruitment videos that I've seen: I can't see where the shots go. It makes it really hard to know how effective the shots are. It'd also be nice to see some point played against a player of similar skill level.

But it looks good, not college material though. Footwork can improve but forehand is a little shaky. I like the first video and how your playing in the rain

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If he is ranked 27th section and 530 nationally, he can find a college to play at. It won't be D1, but I don't see why he couldn't play D2 or D3 without any problem. There are some colleges, especially on D3, that have 3.5-4.0 level players on them.

If he is ranked 27th section and 530 nationally, he can find a college to play at. It won't be D1, but I don't see why he couldn't play D2 or D3 without any problem. There are some colleges, especially on D3, that have 3.5-4.0 level players on them.

Are you looking for technique advice? Before getting in to that, the first thing I would tell you is that no matter what your strokes look like, if you are getting great results, then don't make changes. But, because your video doesn't show the ball flight, it's impossible to make that assessment from this video.

Having said that, overall, your strokes look. Like everyone else, there are certain technical aspects of your stroke production that I would at least bring to your attention.

- Your forehand is a classic full Western forehand, and it looks like you hit it very well. However, the video didn't show you taking any balls lower than waist high. That's where a full Western forehand can get difficult if you don't know how to deal with it. I've had success hitting short inside out backhand slices to Western forehands because they have difficulty getting low short balls over the net. The remedy for handling low balls with a Western grip is to drop the racquet head down by suppinating the forearm before contact. If you are doing that, then you should be good.

- Your backhand looks good except that your circular windup is too high and you are overextending your arms. When you play against really hard hitters, that oversized windup is going to cause you to be rushed and late on some of your bh's. I know if feels right and you probably rely on that big windup for your timing and tempo because you've gotten used to it. But, if you are going to play at a higher level, IMO, you should make the circle windup smaller.

- You backhand slice is typical of a primary 2hb player - complete absence of forearm pronation on the backswing and suppination on the forward swing resulting in an arm swing in which you rely on forearm strength, rather than throwing the mass of the racquet, to hit through the ball. It may work when you are able to hit without reaching or stretching, but, that defeats the point of a slice. If you can hit the ball without reaching or stretching, the 2hb is the primary shot anyway.

This commercial with Billy Jean King shows the proper slice technique that I'm talking about. Notice how the racquet head drops below the hand as she rotates her forearm back and then forth (pronation/suppination), throwing the racquet at the ball without trying to muscle it. The swing path is like a reverse "S" on its side with a high finish at about 2 O'clock. This technique is what allows you to get as much power as you want on that side when you are reaching or stretching for the ball, and on high balls above the shoulder. It's just a short clip as part of a Wilson commercial but it's the clearest example I've found. Check it out, imitate it, learn it, own it. If you do, you will have a weapon that virtually no one else has. It will pay off for you:

- Your serve has a minor, but important, defect that should be easy to fix. When you toss the ball, you reset your feet (your heels), to accomodate your shoulder turn. Shoulder turn is essential. But, IMO, resetting your feet defeats part of the benefit of the shoulder turn - to create tension between the upper and lower body. When I was learning the serve, we were taught to increase the tension by stepping forward in to what is now called a pinpoint stance so that the pelvis was facing at about 2 O'clock, but the chest was facing at about 4 O'clock. I'm not saying to change to a pinpoint stance. Just keep your feet where they are and make the same shoulder turn that you're making now.

- Your volleys are competent, but, you don't look particularly comfortable. Here are the basics: when you see what side the ball is coming to: (1) turn your side with both hands on the racquet and no other backswing, (2) move your head toward the ball and let your feet do what they need to do without thinking about them, (3) let go of the racquet with your left hand and hold the racquet in the path of the oncoming ball, (4) carve under the ball at contact by leading with the bottom edge of the racquet head with a 1 foot forward swing, (5) do not chop or swing down.

If he is ranked 27th section and 530 nationally, he can find a college to play at. It won't be D1, but I don't see why he couldn't play D2 or D3 without any problem. There are some colleges, especially on D3, that have 3.5-4.0 level players on them.

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Yeah I'm looking at mostly D2 and NAIA schools. I've talked/met with the coaches so I'll most likely be playing in college.

Are you looking for technique advice? Before getting in to that, the first thing I would tell you is that no matter what your strokes look like, if you are getting great results, then don't make changes. But, because your video doesn't show the ball flight, it's impossible to make that assessment from this video.

Having said that, overall, your strokes look. Like everyone else, there are certain technical aspects of your stroke production that I would at least bring to your attention.

- Your forehand is a classic full Western forehand, and it looks like you hit it very well. However, the video didn't show you taking any balls lower than waist high. That's where a full Western forehand can get difficult if you don't know how to deal with it. I've had success hitting short inside out backhand slices to Western forehands because they have difficulty getting low short balls over the net. The remedy for handling low balls with a Western grip is to drop the racquet head down by suppinating the forearm before contact. If you are doing that, then you should be good.

- Your backhand looks good except that your circular windup is too high and you are overextending your arms. When you play against really hard hitters, that oversized windup is going to cause you to be rushed and late on some of your bh's. I know if feels right and you probably rely on that big windup for your timing and tempo because you've gotten used to it. But, if you are going to play at a higher level, IMO, you should make the circle windup smaller.

- You backhand slice is typical of a primary 2hb player - complete absence of forearm pronation on the backswing and suppination on the forward swing resulting in an arm swing in which you rely on forearm strength, rather than throwing the mass of the racquet, to hit through the ball. It may work when you are able to hit without reaching or stretching, but, that defeats the point of a slice. If you can hit the ball without reaching or stretching, the 2hb is the primary shot anyway.

This commercial with Billy Jean King shows the proper slice technique that I'm talking about. Notice how the racquet head drops below the hand as she rotates her forearm back and then forth (pronation/suppination), throwing the racquet at the ball without trying to muscle it. The swing path is like a reverse "S" on its side with a high finish at about 2 O'clock. This technique is what allows you to get as much power as you want on that side when you are reaching or stretching for the ball, and on high balls above the shoulder. It's just a short clip as part of a Wilson commercial but it's the clearest example I've found. Check it out, imitate it, learn it, own it. If you do, you will have a weapon that virtually no one else has. It will pay off for you:

- Your serve has a minor, but important, defect that should be easy to fix. When you toss the ball, you reset your feet (your heels), to accomodate your shoulder turn. Shoulder turn is essential. But, IMO, resetting your feet defeats part of the benefit of the shoulder turn - to create tension between the upper and lower body. When I was learning the serve, we were taught to increase the tension by stepping forward in to what is now called a pinpoint stance so that the pelvis was facing at about 2 O'clock, but the chest was facing at about 4 O'clock. I'm not saying to change to a pinpoint stance. Just keep your feet where they are and make the same shoulder turn that you're making now.

- Your volleys are competent, but, you don't look particularly comfortable. Here are the basics: when you see what side the ball is coming to: (1) turn your side with both hands on the racquet and no other backswing, (2) move your head toward the ball and let your feet do what they need to do without thinking about them, (3) let go of the racquet with your left hand and hold the racquet in the path of the oncoming ball, (4) carve under the ball at contact by leading with the bottom edge of the racquet head with a 1 foot forward swing, (5) do not chop or swing down.

- Your backhand slice is typical of a primary 2hb player - complete absence of forearm pronation on the backswing and suppination on the forward swing resulting in an arm swing in which you rely on forearm strength, rather than throwing the mass of the racquet, to hit through the ball. It may work when you are able to hit without reaching or stretching, but, that defeats the point of a slice. If you can hit the ball without reaching or stretching, the 2hb is the primary shot anyway.

This commercial with Billy Jean King shows the proper slice technique that I'm talking about. Notice how the racquet head drops below the hand as she rotates her forearm back and then forth (pronation/suppination), throwing the racquet at the ball without trying to muscle it. The swing path is like a reverse "S" on its side with a high finish at about 2 O'clock. This technique is what allows you to get as much power as you want on that side when you are reaching or stretching for the ball, and on high balls above the shoulder. It's just a short clip as part of a Wilson commercial but it's the clearest example I've found. Check it out, imitate it, learn it, own it. If you do, you will have a weapon that virtually no one else has. It will pay off for you:

I agree that the slice looks pretty defensive. I don't agree that 2hbh players have to have a weak slice.

I'm no expert in slice technique and its history, but I do know that a lot of current top pros do not use the technique that Billy Jean demonstrates in the commercial. I see guys like Federer prepping with the racquet arm bent at the elbow and the racquet up by the non-dominant side ear. During the stroke the racquet carves down across the ball generally maintaining the angle of the racquet set at the beginning of the stroke. Billy's stroke in the commercial looks like the Ken Rosewall style slice. Certainly an effective stroke in its day, but it does not seem to be in use much today, though please chime in and tell me if I'm wrong.

Honestly I learned the new "prep by the ear" technique just recently based on some threads here and by watching some youtube videos. I've worked on it a bit and frankly it works great. You can hit very aggressive slices, with good pace and a really nasty amount of spin.

I agree that the slice looks pretty defensive. I don't agree that 2hbh players have to have a weak slice.

I'm no expert in slice technique and its history, but I do know that a lot of current top pros do not use the technique that Billy Jean demonstrates in the commercial. I see guys like Federer prepping with the racquet arm bent at the elbow and the racquet up by the non-dominant side ear. During the stroke the racquet carves down across the ball generally maintaining the angle of the racquet set at the beginning of the stroke. Billy's stroke in the commercial looks like the Ken Rosewall style slice. Certainly an effective stroke in its day, but it does not seem to be in use much today, though please chime in and tell me if I'm wrong.

Honestly I learned the new "prep by the ear" technique just recently based on some threads here and by watching some youtube videos. I've worked on it a bit and frankly it works great. You can hit very aggressive slices, with good pace and a really nasty amount of spin.

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IMO, a proper bh slice is a lost art. No one hits one because it hasn't been taught in many years. I reject the notion that it wouldn't hold up in today's game. To the contrary, it would hold up a lot better than the "chop" that Federer and most other pros hit. It has a low margin for error, limited utility and is no model for others to emulate, IMO.

The technique that BJK used is the traditional slice that all of the pros used up to and including Edberg whose 1hb (topspin and slice) was better than anyone playing the game today. A traditional slice can be both a defensive shot, a touch shot, and an offensive weapon. Most importantly, it is the pronation/suppination of the forearm inherent in the traditional slice, and absent in the Federer chop, is what makes it such an effective shot. When you are too stretched out, or the ball is too high above the shoulder, to hit an effective 2hb, you can still hit a traditional slice with power.

PS: I'm not saying that the chop doesn't have its uses (ie: drop shot, recovery shot, sharp angle), but, not as a bread and butter slice.

can you summarize the work you have done in the past 4 years - hours/frequency of training, what kind of coaching you got, your tournament play etc.

this can serve as a good reference point for all the 'pro tour' dreamers, how much work it takes to just become a good recreational player.

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I started playing tennis at the end of my 8th grade year. For about the first 10 months I literally went to the club everyday and hit off the ball machine/served for about 3 hours. I would then proceed to go home and watch instructional tennis videos online. Eventually I started playing rookie tournaments, then challengers. I played highschool tennis and made a lot more tennis connections, which allowed me to call up and play with kids my level everyday. I started getting private lessons once a week. By my sophomore year in highschool I started winning challenger tournaments so I moved up to champs. My training regimin from that time on has been 2.5-3.5 hours on court a day and 45 min off court. I play tournaments about 2 times a month. The only way I was able to get as good as I have in that amount of time was simply because I had the passion and the drive.

the phrase about old dogs and new tricks is definitely true.... it seems that the human brain loses it's openness and refuse to take in new information as it ages.

it took me almost a year to convince one of my old dogs that flipping is no good, now he is hitting similar to today's pros and is close to getting rid of the flipping that had brought him so much frustration.

in tennis where only the fittest can survive, there is no such thing as 'lost art'.. the obsolete techniques simply get washed out, like the old linear style FH, and the old style 'slapping slice'.

don't take this the wrong way limp.... someday I will be old myself, but I hope to still keep an open mind when the day comes.

I started playing tennis at the end of my 8th grade year. For about the first 10 months I literally went to the club everyday and hit off the ball machine/served for about 3 hours. I would then proceed to go home and watch instructional tennis videos online. Eventually I started playing rookie tournaments, then challengers. I played highschool tennis and made a lot more tennis connections, which allowed me to call up and play with kids my level everyday. I started getting private lessons once a week. By my sophomore year in highschool I started winning challenger tournaments so I moved up to champs. My training regimin from that time on has been 2.5-3.5 hours on court a day and 45 min off court. I play tournaments about 2 times a month. The only way I was able to get as good as I have in that amount of time was simply because I had the passion and the drive.

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jremington, the reason Dozu asked the question is because he has never actually played a sanctioned tennis match in his life and he was hoping you could tell him what it is like.

The improvement is astounding in just three years! The forehand looks remarkably painful. I feel so bad for your wrist, but if it works, then so be it. I also noticed you do the ballerina kick with your back leg on your backhands sometimes. Your volleys look a bit awkward at times, that's the best i can explain it. You also foot fault a lot, but thats the least of your concerns.

The improvement is astounding in just three years! The forehand looks remarkably painful. I feel so bad for your wrist, but if it works, then so be it. I also noticed you do the ballerina kick with your back leg on your backhands sometimes. Your volleys look a bit awkward at times, that's the best i can explain it. You also foot fault a lot, but thats the least of your concerns.

Nice footwork, great smile.

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Thanks, I actually use a semiwestern grip, contrary to what it may look like, and I keep my wrist totally loose when I swing so it is not painful at all.

it's getting boring limp - come up with something interesting for a change.

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Listen Dozu, when I take the time to give in depth detailed advice to someone that I think can do something productive with it, and then you come along and try to belittle me and my advice with your uninformed, unqualified, childish playground antics, then I think I owe it to the reader to advise him that you have never actually played a tennis match. That way he'll know what weight to give to your criticism.

If you don't like it, then you can always elect to mind your own business, and stop taking cheap shots and making comments about something you know absolutely nothing about. I don't go around telling others that I think your advice is crap, even when I think it is. If I disagree with you, I'll say so and explain why. Grow up!

especially from those who don't have a face... it could be a family cat telling you to hit a slice like from 40 years ago.

I watched the entire video.... OP's coach obviously know how to make a player fast.... big FH, solid BH, inside out as many as possible, big serve.... and if there are parts of the game that OP and his coach decided to put on the parking lot, it's the slices and the volleys.... but I am sure with OP' dedication, this part will be fixed at certain time.

college coaches may take the weakness as a positive.... if OP can win with such flaws in the net game, imagine what he can do when that part is shored up.

good stuff - pretty much in line of what I was expecting.... I actually have witnessed some juniors developing to similar levels with similar amount of work.

this oughta be a wake up call for all the 'pro tour' dreamers.

OP - best luck to your college search.

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I also have played with some junior who have been playing since 5 years old, their parents have $80/hr on lessons every week + camps, tournaments, ect. I can still beat them at age 17. This is pretty sad since I am pretty much self taught and have played half as long as they have and more than twice as old as them. Time and money spent does not always = results.

I also have played with some junior who have been playing since 5 years old, their parents have $80/hr on lessons every week + camps, tournaments, ect. I can still beat them at age 17. This is pretty sad since I am pretty much self taught and have played half as long as they have and more than twice as old as them. Time and money spent does not always = results.

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what is the junior's tournament records?

self taught people tend to have unorthodox games that may give the academy type players lots of headaches.

self taught people tend to have unorthodox games that may give the academy type players lots of headaches.

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Ok- he beats unranked players, usually gets smoked by players that have decent rankings. I wouldn't call him an academy player. His goals are not centered around playing college tennis. Tennis more like a hobby that his parents have spent a large amount of money on. Unlike the OP, he doesn't have the passion and drive to become the best tennis player he can be.

I have nothing to offer, but I greatly enjoyed looking at your two vids. I love the one where, as a 14 year old, you are so hot to play you are hitting outside during the winter in the rain (or after some snowmelt). You've got some nice strokes now. I would take everything you read here with a grain of salt.

Ok- he beats unranked players, usually gets smoked by players that have decent rankings. I wouldn't call him an academy player. His goals are not centered around playing college tennis. Tennis more like a hobby that his parents have spent a large amount of money on. Unlike the OP, he doesn't have the passion and drive to become the best tennis player he can be.

There is something about your strokes that makes me think injury. Your footwork is magnificent it truly is but something tells me one hard flat drive to either wing and that long swing may begin to show some flaws (Nadal has the same problem so don't feel bad).

I'm not going to just say you can hit, obviously your results show that and I don't imagine your here just fishing for compliments. How ever I can give you some suggestions that may help you prepare for the next level. I've played college and against some pretty mean Europeans with depth had power and spin. This is what I see needs to change for you, a smaller player, to excel at the next level.

Ground strokes: Simplified. You will have to develop a more direct swing to the contact point. Right now your swing is loosey goosey which if fine but you depend too much on just racquet head speed and over extension to make the ball go. You look a bit like a ostrich with your chest cocked forward on your forehand. This looks like the result of trying to extend too far forward. This effects your stability and balance. This technique may work for you at this level but all the little nuances will give you problems at a higher level. Dont get me wrong, theres a lot of good in there, but you need to strip it down to essence and make it unbreakable.

I could write 3pages on the forehand backhand but I'm sure a lot of it you already know. So I'm going to boil it down to it's essence. You hit with your core and lift with arms. The amount your arms move should be minimal. The motion of the arm is almost that of a bowler bowling a bowling ball. If you watch they pronate across the body as well. Power comes from your core. Pat the dog, shine the butt cap, yadda, yadda, the most important thin is to allow the shoulder to hit the ball. Your dbl bend Is hinged on your shoulder, your shoulder is rotated into your ball by your core/legs. Right now your arms are too active in the power portion. You need to simplify. The stroke is a musclular lift not a slap.

I will write more but the baby just started to stir. I'll touch on your volleys if I have some time at the office.

Your hips are closed almost all the time, making it harder for you to balance.. It looks like you're leaning forward all the time and never 'sitting'.

You'll have better balance and engage your glutes and quads more easily if you just learn to get your upper legs and hips to open up.. you're hitting with your hips always closed and I can see it making things harder than they have to be, especially on your backhand side.

quick edit: look at where your kneecaps are pointing relative to each other most of the time.. they're facing inward, or 'buckling' too often. Pro players' kneecaps will be at an obtuse angle to each other after their split step, and in their power step before hitting. Practice a horse stance like in kung fu movies! Put some weight on your butt!

Impressive. The one negative thing I notice is that your strokes look a bit stiff and awkward. I disagree strongly with the poster who said you are loosey goosey..

With the hitters that look the most 'natural' IRL they are finishing their racquet 'take back' with their hips. As their hips start to turn forward the racquet naturally goes back and lags behind. And while the lock and roll guy makes a big thing about this - other coaches have talked about the same thing..

With you you just take a big backswing and then don't really let the racquet slide back more (how could you with you far it is behind you)..

So it looks a bit stiff..and awkward. That's my take anyway. i wasn't going to say anything cause hey you are better then me. But it really seems like that's the issue.

Compare your 'backswing' with feds. You really have a back swing. He has more of a unit turn + a racquet drop + a hip rotation..

- You backhand slice is typical of a primary 2hb player - complete absence of forearm pronation on the backswing and suppination on the forward swing resulting in an arm swing in which you rely on forearm strength.

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This ^. I agree. His slice is pretty typical of someone with a 2HBH - it looks like an afterthought. It wont get much bite hitting it that way - the stroke is too through-the-ball as opposed to downward angle on impact. I am a little suss when people treat the slice as for being only when you can't reach the ball enough to hit a 2HBH - a good slice can be used any time as a mix-up shot imo. Without having the confidence and skill to hit it often it opens a big hole in the repertoire of a player, especially if they want to play doubles.

The backhand volley in particular looks quote awkward and coached to me. Some time spent with a good volleyer would do wonders here. Forgot the coach you're using (he's already shown he hasn't taught him the goods here) and find a top doubles player from the club he plays at - asks them for some volleying skill practice (either side of the net for example). Anything other than a confidently hit volley is not good enough at competition level nowdays.

1. Shorten your swings. Specifically, your forehand backswing. The head of your racket is laying very far back on your forehand to the point where your opponent can see it sticking out behind your body. You practically never see a swing that big at pro level because you do not have time. Also, it just give you a lot more room for something to go wrong. Backhand is also a bit big too but not quite as bad. On BH, racket goes very high on backswing and lays back behind your back a bit like the forehand. Go to fuzzyyellowballs.com or yourtube and watch Federer and Agassi forehand and Safin or Agassi backhand. If you were their opponent, you would not see the racket sticking out from behind their back as they take backswing. Their racket basically always stays in front of the body - remember they turn their shoulders sideways so "in front of their body" will be pointing toward backfence at longest point but still slightly in front.
2. Your FH grip is a fairly extreme W. Maybe trip to move it up a bit toward SW to handle low balls better as others have mentioned above.
3. Your volley follow-thru is a bit long. When practicing, try ending the follow-thru with your strings still pointing roughly toward your intended target. This type of small tight stroke will make your volley much more dependable. I use the phrase "catch the ball on the strings" or "stop the racket at contact" to limit my follow-thru. When I think these phrases, the racket head still moves thru the ball a bit but it is much smaller and tighter - improving consistency. You can still get pace on floaters with this type of stroke by moving into the shot with your body and feet when you have time. When you don't have time, you will need the compact stroke to maintain control.

Any change will take time but it is possible. I think shortening your strokes will help a great deal as you can still generate a lot of power and consistency will be much improved. It will also improve your ability to handle pace and to adjust to different spins.

I started playing tennis at the end of my 8th grade year. For about the first 10 months I literally went to the club everyday and hit off the ball machine/served for about 3 hours. I would then proceed to go home and watch instructional tennis videos online. Eventually I started playing rookie tournaments, then challengers. I played highschool tennis and made a lot more tennis connections, which allowed me to call up and play with kids my level everyday. I started getting private lessons once a week. By my sophomore year in highschool I started winning challenger tournaments so I moved up to champs. My training regimin from that time on has been 2.5-3.5 hours on court a day and 45 min off court. I play tournaments about 2 times a month. The only way I was able to get as good as I have in that amount of time was simply because I had the passion and the drive.

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We started playing at the same time, but if I had the apparent resources you have, I can only dream of what I could've been... Not gonna touch the strokes, no point in that now. Footwork is very good, keep up that work. Keep up the search, go to a college that fits you, not just the only one that will let you play tennis, as in my case, it doesn't look like college tennis will be fitting me for much longer (injuries, politics, etc...).

DI is most certainly not in reach for someone 500th nationally at his age. He's good, especially for this board, but unless he plays for the absolutely weakest DI school in the nation, he's far better off playing for a DII/DIII/NAIA/JUCO school.

You notice as the ball is coming, he has that moment where he sets. Nothings moving. That's what you need to learn. It's not long or drawn out, but your forehand doesn't have a time when everything sets.